New Chairship of the ESA Council

Otylia Trzaskalska-Stroińska has been elected as vice-chair of the ESA Council. This poses a great chance for Polish space sector.

Otylia Trzaskalska-Stroińska has been supporting the development of Polish space industry for years – she was a representative of the Ministry of Economy, which has been transformed into the Ministry of Development. Thanks to Trzaskalska-Stroińska’s actions Poland joined European Space Agency (ESA) at the end of 2012.

In March 2017 Otylia Trzaskalska-Stroińska has been elected as vice-chair of the ESA Council. The position will be shared with Alice Brunn of the United Kingdom. Jean-Yves Le Gall of France has been elected chair of the ESA Council. Currently Le Gall holds a function of the director of the French Space Agency CNES. The new chairship of the ESA Council starts on 1st July 2017.

This is the first time for a representative of a “young” ESA’s member state to be elected for the Council. That fact is a positive sign for the developing Polish space sector. Moreover, it means that Poland despite being a “freshman” in ESA and having a low budget at its disposal (comparing to France or Germany) is being considered as an important partner in the Agency.

The ESA Council decides about the development paths of ESA and European space industry in general. Poland has been ESA’s member state since 19th November 2012. The national financial contribution to ESA (basic and optional programmes) is about 31,5 mln EUR. The moment Poland was accepted as ESA’s member state was a turning point for Polish space industry. During four and a half year tens of Polish companies started works and investments both in downstream and upstream sectors. Most of Polish projects realised in collaboration with ESA is of industrial and commercial character. Earlier most of the activities was realised mostly by research and development institutions.